South Asia has experienced a long period of robust economic growth, averaging 6% a year over the past 20 years. This strong growth has translated into declining poverty and impressive improvements. However, South Asia remains home to the most number of people living in extreme poverty and many challenges remain.
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Female labor force participation rates
in urban India between 1987 and 2011 are surprisingly low
and have stagnated since the late 1980s. Despite rising
growth, fertility... Show More + decline, and rising wages and education
levels, married women's labor force participation
hovered around 18 percent. Analysis of five large
cross-sectional micro surveys shows that a combination of
supply and demand effects have contributed to this
stagnation. The main supply side factors are rising
household incomes and husband's education as well as
the falling selectivity of highly educated women. On the
demand side, the sectors that draw in female workers have
expanded least, so that changes in the sectoral structure of
employment alone would have actually led to declining
participation rates. Show Less -